Market Forces January 2008 Vol. 3 No.

SHOULD WE ALLOW OUR

CHILDREN TO WATCH TV
INDEPENDENTLY: AN
EMPIRICAL STUDY ON THE
IMPACT OF TV
ADVERTISING ON
CHILDREN
TARIQ JALEES & AMBREEN NAZ
College of Management Sciences
PAF-Karachi Institute of Economics and Technology
tariqj@pafkiet.edu.pk

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to (1) deliberate upon the impacts of television advertising
on children, (2) identify the critical “impacts”, (3) empirically test the significant factors.
Based on literature survey several impacts of adverting were identified including: (1)
unnecessary purchasing (2) low nutritional food (3) violence (4) materialism. The
variables derived though the literature survey were used to develop a close-ended
questionnaire that was administered to a sample size of 108, drawn through non-
proportionate stratified technique. The rating on the impacts of advertising were as high
as 3.9 on “low nutritional value” and as low as 3.5 for “materialism”, on a scale of (5 to
1). Pearson correlation was used to measure the relationships of the variables on one-to-
one basis indicating that “unnecessary purchasing” had a strong relationship with
“materialism” (r = .054) and “exposure” (r= 0.54). The weakest relationship was found
between “materialism” and “low nutritional value” with correlation of (0 .22).

1.0. INTRODUCTION

Television is one of the strongest media and due to its reach it is influencing the
cultures of the country. Children of course are the worst victims of TV influences. Its
impact on the children are universal. The gravity of TV influence varies from child to
child. It depends on factors such as age and personality of the child, their viewing habits
that is inclusive of duration of TV watching, types of programs, and guidance provided
by the parents.
 TV viewing has its pros and cons. On the negative side, excessive TV viewing
leads to laziness and inactivity and thus contributes towards childhood obesity. Children
who watch lot of television are found to be the ones who are not involved in healthy and
sport activities and are consumers of high fat and high energy snack foods. Commercials
could be attributed as misleading.They do not portray the foods children should eat to
keep themselves healthy (Dorr and Koyarii, 1980; Young 1990). “Television viewers
tend to get a sense of relaxation when they are watching TV, which of course only last till
the TV is on. Sports activities and hobbies are the source of energy whereas TV viewing
is a source of depleted energy” (Bartsch and London, 2000)

The positive aspects of television viewing are that it helps in educating viewers
about factual knowledge and how to handle different people in different social situations.
Television is a pervasive medium which is readily available to nearly all children. Most
of the children world over spend about three to four hours daily watching television.
Initially, children face problems in comprehending television programs. But being quick
learners, they can make rational decisions about right or wrong under proper guidance of
the parents. Thus it is advisable for the parents of young children to monitor the TV
viewing habits of their children. (Bartsch and London, 2000).

2 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of the study is (1) to deliberate upon the impacts of television advertising on
children. (2) to identify these critical “impacts”, and (3) empirically test some of the
critical
factors.

2.0 LITERATURE SURVEY

2.1 ADVERTISING

Different authors have defined advertising differently. “Advertising is a paid, one-

way communication through a medium in which the sponsor is identified and the
message is controlled. Variations include publicity, public relations, product placement,
sponsorship, underwriting, and sales promotion. Every major medium is used to deliver
these messages, including: television, radio, movies, magazines, newspapers, the Internet,
and billboards” (Kunkel and Gantz, 1992). Advertising can be attributed as persuasive
commercial messages for selling and informing consumers about new products (Kunkel
and Gantz, 1992).

A television advertisement or commercial is a form of advertising in which goods,

services, organizations, ideas, etc. are promoted via the medium of television. Most
commercials are produced by an outside advertising agency and airtime is purchased
from a Media Agency or direct from the TV channel or network. The main process used
to “talk” to consumer is “advertisiing” (Donhaue, 1975).
 Advertising and marketing is one of the major sources of influencing the culture
and society (Friestad, 1994). It may also be pointed out that the culture also influences
the pattern of advertising.

2.2 THE EFFECTS OF ADVERTISING

The advertising sectors deliberately tones down the influence and possible
adverse influence of the product they are advertising. They tends to portray an
’innocuous” aspect of daily life in their commercial messages and hope that this innocent
aspect of life would not only attract the attention of potential customers but would also
influence them (Adler and et.al, 1997). The advertising has positive and negative
influences. The opponents and critics of advertising portray the negative effects, while
those in favor emphasize the positive aspects. Some of the commonly deliberated impact
of advertising are discussed below:

a) The Ability of Advertising to Attract Children’s Attention

Young children are more influenced from the TV advertisements as compared to

other age groups. And they generally believe in what advertisements have to say about
the products. If the advertisements are not very complex, and it says some thing new,
then, likelihood of attracting children’s attention would increase (Rice and et.al, 1986).

A direct relationship was found in the frequency (repetition) of commercial and

ability to attract children’s attention. Children up to five years old are generally fond of
hearing the same story again and again. Similarly, these younger children enjoy repetition
of same advertisement again and again. This repeated transmission generally enhances
their attention towards the ads, and in a few cases, it was found that the children tend to
lose interest due to repeated transmission of the TV commercials (Wellman,1990). The
advertisers prefer to advertise their products to children due to its deep impact. In view of
the children’s importance of influencing purchase decisions the advertisers not only
target them at home through television but also target them through advertisements in
class rooms and schools (Palmer and et.al, 2004).

As elaborated earlier, the children’s attention towards the advertisements is highly

dependent on two factors. One is that it must be simple, and second is that it must contain
some thing new for the children ( Rice and et.al, 1986).

b) Children’s Comprehension of Television Advertising

Children’s comprehension of advertising messages is dependent on (1) they must

posses the skill to distinguish between commercial from noncommercial content; and (2)
they must be skeptical towards the ‘persuasive intent’ of advertising within the limitation
of their knowledge. This process of assessing TV commercials is known as cognitive
growth and intellectual development (John, 1999; Young, 1990).
 By the time the children reach the age of 8 years, their responsiveness to
advertising gets sophisticated, they tend to evaluate the messages in true perspective and
are capable of responding to commercial advertisement in a mature and informed way
(John,1999). The children between 8 and 12 years develop the ability to retrieve and
make effective use of the information they have stored in memory, though this ability is
not fully developed yet. Comparatively, children below the age of 8 years are not very
comfortable in retrieving the stored information. However, a certain degree of prompting
would make it easier for children below eight years age group to retrieve and utilize
stored information. Thus younger children are more vulnerable to commercial influence
(Deborah, 1981).

c) Children’s Ability To Understand The Purpose Of Advertising

One of the major reasons for television advertising is to change the attitude and
behavior of the audience. Adults while watching television advertisements comprehend
them though a process known as a cognitive filter. This process is inclusive of the
following: (1) the viewers presume that there is a different perspective between the
source of the message and the receiver of the message, (2) the intentions of the source are
always persuasive, (3) there is bias in all the persuasive messages and (4) interpretation
strategies must vary from biased message to unbiased message (Roberston and Rossitter,
1977). Once the children reach a level of understanding advertisements through all the
four processes of interpretation, they have developed mature comprehension process of
interpreting advertising messages (Carroll, 1984; Flavell, 1977; Selman, 1971; Shantz,
1975).

Children below 7–8 years group lack the ability to understand the TV
commercial’s cognitive development process. Egocentrism is the common trait of this
age group, which means that this age group lacks the ability of perceiving another person
perspective (Carroll, 1984; Flavell, 1977; Selman, 1971).

Children’s beliefs, desires and motives are not fully developed until they are six
years old (Wellman, 1990). Therefore, they lack the ability to fully comprehend
advertisers persuasive intents at this age group (Friestad & Wright, 1994). The children
belonging to age group 3-6 years lack comprehending advertisers persuasive intent but
possess interpersonal skills of influencing the behavior of peers or parents, and others
(Bartsch & London, 2000; Kline & Clinton, 1998; Weiss & Sachs, 1991).

Children could only form an attitude towards the advertisement if they could
understand the purpose and intention of TV advertising. This of course helps in forming
an image of the product (Dorr and Kovaric, 1980).Children understand the purpose of
advertising that appears on television as early as 5 years of age (Macklin, 1987). The age
of 8 to10 years possesses a fundamental understanding of the purpose of advertising
(Bartch and London, 2000).

d) Unnecessary Purchasing:
 Children’s purchasing behavior and demand for goods seem to be influenced by
TV commercials. However, besides TV commercial and other forms of commercial the
significant factors in making the purchase decisions are peer group, friends, parent and
direct experience. Other factors that may also contribute in the purchasing decisions of
the children are their age, socio-economic and cultural background (including the
parents’ level of education) (Galst & White, 1976).

A single commercial may marginally affect the Brand preferences. However,

repeated exposure of the commercial may create a strong desire for the advertised
products, as compared to competitive products (Gorn & Goldberg, 1982; Robertson &
Rossiter, 1977). Children may not be able to recall TV commercial over time; however,
positive attitudes toward an advertised product may last for another week despite the fact
that the ad has been forgotten (Silverman, Jaccard, & Burke, 1988). The products such as
toys, cereals, and ice creams have a longer impact even if the frequency of these ads is
limited to one per program (Gorn & Goldberg, 1977, 1980; Zuckerman, Ziegler, &
Stevenson, 1978). The researchers have shown that children’s product knowledge is
primarily based on TV commercials (Caron & Ward, 1975; Donahue, 1975).

e) Increasing Materialism

The primary objective of the ads is promoting products and its features. However,
if perceived differently it appears to have broader sociological influence (Baran, Mok,
Land, and Kang, 1989).

TV advertising is one of the major source of consumption ideology more

commonly known as increasing materialism. Demanding more consumers’ goods as a
result of exposure to TV commercial comes in the category of television advertising
(Kline and Clinton, 1998).

The above study has two weaknesses. One is that demanding product is not
necessarily an indication of materialistic attitude, as acquisition and ownership lead
towards happiness. The other weakness in the above study was that the subjects were
mothers, who may have their own biases (John, 1999).

f) Low Nutritional Foods

Children who watch television excessively tend to be overweight, as they are

less involved in healthy activities such as running, jumping and exercise. Additionally,
these children take unhealthy foods, such as candy, snacks, sugary cereals and drinks
(Macklin,1987). Generally, the prime time commercials are promoting unhealthy dietary
practices, which also contribute towards obesity (Barcus, 1980).

Commercials tend to ignore healthy dietary practices. Therefore, children

persuade their parents to buy unhealthy foods. As these children spend lot of time
watching TV. Therefore, the chances are that these children are physically less fit, and
consume high fat and high-energy snack foods (Dorr and Koyaric, 1980).

Extensive research has been undertaken on the advertising effects on children’s

eating habits. As most commercials targeting children are of candy, snacks, and fast food,
such ads therefore act as catalysts in persuading children to demand these unhealthy
products (Borzekowski & Robinson, 2001).

Children food preference is highly dependent on television advertising.

However, it conveys a grossly imbalanced nutritional message. Most of the ads
targeting children are of fatty and sugary foods. The research has demonstrated a direct
relationship between food advertisements children remember and the number of foods
like soft drink, crisps and savory snacks that children eat (Borzekowshi and Robinson,
2001).

Occasional consumption of candy, sugared cereals, and desserts are generally not
considered harmful by most of the parents and pediatricians. But excessive use of the
same is considered harmful. Frequencies of commercials for candies, snacks, and sugared
cereals are far more than the commercials for more healthy or nutritious food, which
worry the parents (Atkin & Heald, 1977; Barcus, 1980; Kunkel & Gantz, 1992).

The impact of media on children varies from age to age. It is generally assumed
that younger children tend to be more influenced by television as compared to older ones.
A strong correlation was found in television viewing habits, and poor diet, poor health
and obesity among both children and adults. While watching one remains physically
inactive, which reduces metabolic rates and displaces physical exercise. Habitual
television viewers very frequently consume pre-prepared meals and/or fast foods
(Livingstone, S., and Helsper, E., 2000).

Children have developed habits of taking breakfast, lunch, and meal while
watching TV which is not very healthy. Children think that food is a primary necessity
of life, whereas mothers consider food primarily as a pleasure for their child (Macaux,
2001).

g) Violence

Children’s attitudes are also governed by the Media violence. TV advertising

contains lot of action, a fixed tempo and rapid image changes which tend to increase
aggression in younger children. (Anderson & Bushman, 2001). Other research shows a
strong association between exposure to media violence and fears, anxieties, and sleep
disturbances (Cantor, 1998; Harrison & Cantor, 1997).

Whether the television is really harmful to children depends from child to child.
It could be harmful to some children in some conditions while under the same conditions;
it may be beneficial to other children (Bushman and Canter, 2003).
h) Exposure To Advertising:

Children’s exposure to advertising is dependent on their viewing habist. Those

children who watch TV frequently are more vulnerable to parameters such as increased
obesity and chronic disease risk, materialism etc. (Bushman and Cantor, 2003).

2.3 DETERMINANTS OF CHILDREN’S ATTITUDES TOWARD

ADVERTISEMENTS:

Based on the literature survey the following determinants were identified, each of
the variables contains several sub variables as illustrated in the questionnaire Annexure -
1:

a. Unnecessary Purchasing
b. Low Nutritional Food
c. Violence
d. Materialism
e. Exposure To Advertising

2.4 HYPOTHESES

Based on the literature survey the following hypotheses were developed:

There is no significant difference in respondents’ opinions on “Exposure to

advertising” “Unnecessary purchasing”, “Low nutritional food”,” Materialism”.
There is no relationship between independent variable “Exposure to advertising”
and dependent variable “Low nutritional Food”
There is no relationship between independent variable “Exposure to advertising”
and dependent variable “Unnecessary purchasing”.
There is no relationship between independent variable “Exposure to advertising”
and dependent variable “Materialism”
3.0.0 METHODOLOGY
The respondents of the study are the parents of preteen age children.
Traditionally, the opinions of the parents are generally taken in this kind of research. The
reason for selecting parents as a subject has advantages and disadvantages. One of the
major disadvantages is that the bias of the parents reflect even when they are talking
about the behavior of the children. The disadvantage for selecting children as subject is
that the questionnaire some time is very complicated for the children to answer. The
present study is also administered to the parents of the children.

Based on the literature survey a closed-ended questionnaire was developed and

was pre-tested before being launched. The author personally administered the
questionnaire by visiting the respondents. The instrument contained 18 questions of
which six were related to personal data and the rest were related to the subject study. The
questionnaire comprised of nominal and rating scale. Stratified, non- proportionate
sample technique was used for collecting the data. The population for the subject study is
Parents in Karachi. According to an estimate there are 2 million households in Karachi. If
sample were to be drawn on simple randomness, the approximate sample size comes out
to 80. (20 samples for each variable is generally an acceptable norm). However to have a
better representation about 108 samples were drawn. These were drawn non-randomly
from pre-selected areas.

3.2 DATA ANALYSIS METHOD

The data analysis was inclusive of measure of central tendencies, measure of

dispersion and empirical testing were based on Simple ANOVA and Regression. The
software Excel was used for generating the results. Qualitative analysis was also carried
out for studying variation in demographic and determinants of the study.

4.0 SURVEY FINDINGS

4.1 MEASURE OF CENTRAL TENDENCIES

The respondents’ opinions on the determinants of “Impact of TV advertising on

children” were obtained. The determinants were “Unnecessary purchasing”, “Low
nutritional food”, “Materialism” and “Exposures to advertising”. The summarized results
related to measure of central tendencies and measures of dispersion are presented below:

Table–1
Measure of Central Tendencies

Unnecessary Low nutritional Materialism Exposure

purchasing food

Mean 3.85 3.90 3.50 3.58

Standard Error 0.06 0.05 0.07 0.07
Median 3.67 4.00 3.50 3.61
Mode 3.67 3.67 3.25 3.00
Standard Deviation 0.66 0.53 0.71 0.68
Sample Variance 0.43 0.28 0.51 0.46
Kurtosis (0.50) (0.11) (1.08) 0.07
Skewness (0.25) (0.07) (0.19) (0.51)
Range 2.67 2.33 2.50 3.00
Minimum 2.33 2.67 2.00 2.00
Maximum 5.00 5.00 4.50 5.00
Sum 416.00 421.33 378.00 386.61
Count 108.00 108.00 108.00 108.00
Confidence Level (95.0%) 0.13 0.10 0.14 0.13
 The respondents’ opinions indicate that “Impact of TV advertising to children”
has a higher degree of influence on “Low nutritional food” with a mean of (3.90) and
lower degree of influence on “Materialism” with a mean of (3.50).

The standard deviation of respondents’ opinions on “Low nutritional food”

was the least (0.53), as compared to other dimensions. This indicates that there is less
polarization on the respondents’ opinions on this “Low nutritional food” dimension. The
Standard Deviation of respondents’ opinion on “Materialism” was the highest (0.71), as
compared to other dimensions. This indicates that there is a high polarization of the
respondents’ opinions on this “Materialism” dimension. However, the polarizations of the
respondents’ opinions from one determinant to other do not appear to be high.

The Skewnesses for all the determinants of “Impact of TV advertising on

children” were negative. It was as low as (0.07) for “Low nutritional food and as high as
(0.51) for “Exposure to advertising”. The negative skewness indicates that the
respondents’ opinions on the respective determinants were below average.

4.2 PEARSON CORRELATION

The correlation of all the determinants of “Impact of TV advertising on children”

on one-to-one basis was worked out to find the relationships. The summarized results are
presented below:

TABLE–2
Pearson Correlation

Unnecessary Low nutritional Materialism Exposure

purchasing food

Unnecessary purchasing 1.00

Low nutritional food 0.54 1.00
Materialism 0.34 0.22 1.00
Exposure 0.54 0.37 0.45 1.00

The determinant “Unnecessary purchasing” has a stronger relationship with “low

nutritional food” and “Exposure to advertising with a correlation of 0.54 each and a
weaker relationship with “Materialism” with correlations of 0.34. This indicates that the
“Unnecessary purchasing” is more influenced with “low nutritional food” and “Exposure
to advertising” as compared to the other determinants.

The determinant “Low nutritional food” had a stronger relationship with

“Exposure to advertising” with correlation of 0.37 and lowest with “Materialism” with a
correlation of 0.22. Similar trends were found in the correlation of other determinants on
one-to-one basis except in case of “Materialism” and “Exposure to advertising” where
correlation was found to be 0.45.
 4.3 HYPOTHESIS TESTING

Four different hypotheses were developed and tested:

4.3.1 HYPOTHESIS ONE

Consumers’ responses were classified into four determinants such as

“Unnecessary purchasing”, “Low nutritional food”, “Materialism” and “Exposures to
advertising”. An analysis
was carried out to measure whether significant difference exist between the selected
determinants. The hypothesis developed in this context is presented below:

Statement of hypothesis:

H1o: There is no significant difference in respondents’ opinions on the four variables

such as “Exposure to advertising”, “Unnecessary purchasing”, “Low nutritional
Food”, “Materialism”.

H1A: There is a significant difference in respondents’ opinions on the four variables such
as “Exposure to advertising”, “Unnecessary purchasing”, “Low nutritional food”,
“Materialism”.

Statistical representation:

H10: µ1 = µ2 = µ3 = µ4
H1A: µ1 ≠ µ2 ≠ µ3 ≠ µ4

The above hypothesis was tested through simple ANOVA and the summarized
results are presented below:

Table no :3
ANOVA Test:

Groups Count Sum Average Variance

Unnecessary purchasing 108.00 416.00 3.85 0.43
Low nutritional food 108.00 421.33 3.90 0.28
Materialism 108.00 378.00 3.50 0.51
Exposures to advertising 108.00 386.61 3.58 0.46

Source of Variation SS df MS F P-value F

crit
Between Groups 12.72 3.00 4.24 10.08 0.00 2.63
Within Groups 179.95 428.00 0.42
Total 192.67 431.00

The hypothesis relating to no significant difference of respondents’ opinions on

different types of children’s attitudes (1) “Unnecessary Purchasing”, (2) “Low Nutritional
Food”, (3) “Materialism”,” (4) Exposure to advertising” was rejected. At 95% confidence
level and (3,428) degree of freedom the F critical value is less than the F calculated value
of 10.08.

4.3.2 HYPOTHESIS TWO

Exposure to advertising is dependent on viewing habits. However, it is treated as

an independent variable in reference to variables such as (1) Unnecessary Purchasing, (2)
Low Nutritional Food, (3) Materialism. An analysis was carried out to measure the
relationship of the independent variable “Exposures to Advertising” and dependent
variable “Low Nutritional Food”. The hypothesis developed in this context is presented
below:

H2O: There is no relationship between independent variable “Exposure to Advertising”

and dependent variable. “Low nutritional Food”.

H2A: There is a relationship between independent variable “Exposure to advertising”

and dependent variable “Low Nutritional Food”.

Statistical Representation

Statistical representation of the above hypothesis is presented below:

H2O: β1=0
H2A: β1 ≠ 0

The above hypothesis was tested through simple regression and the summarized
result is presented below:
TABLE-4
Simple Regression
Regression Statistics
Multiple R 0.37
R Square 0.14
Adjusted R Square 0.13
Standard Error 0.49
Observations 108.00

df SS MS F Significance F
Regression 1.00 4.18 4.18 17.13 0.00
Residual 106.00 25.88 0.24
Total 107.00 30.06

Coefficients Standard t Stat P-value Lower

Upper
Error 95% 95%

Intercept 2.85 0.26 11.09 0.00 2.34 3.36

Exposures to advertising 0.29 0.07 4.14 0.00
0.15 0.43

The p-value is 0.00 which is lower than 0.025 so it falls in the critical region.
Therefore, alternative hypothesis of relationship between independent variable “Exposure
to advertising “and dependent variable “Low nutritional food” was accepted. The r2 is
0.14, which indicates that about 14% of the variation of dependent variable “Low
nutritional food” is explained by the independent variable “Exposure to advertising”,
which is significantly low. The reason for such a weaker relations in Pakistan is the
cultural factors, and comparative low purchasing powers.

3.3.3 HYPOTHESIS THREE

An analysis was carried out to measure the relationship of the independent

variable “Exposures to advertising” and dependent variable “Unnecessary purchasing”.
The hypothesis developed in this context is presented below:

H3O: There is no relationship between independent variable “Exposure to advertising”

and dependent variable “Unnecessary purchasing”.

H3A: There is a relationship between independent variable “Exposure to advertising”

and dependent variable “Unnecessary purchasing”.

Statistical Representation

Statistical representation of the above hypothesis is presented below:

H3O: β1 = 0
H3A: β1 ≠ 0

The above hypothesis was tested through simple regressions and the summarized
result is presented below:

TABLE-5
Simple Regression
Regression Statistics
Multiple R 0.54
R Square 0.29
Adjusted R Square 0.29
Standard Error 0.56
Observations 108.00

Df SS MS F Significance F
Regression 1.00 13.72 13.72 44.34 0.00
Residual 106.00 32.80 0.31
Total 107.00 46.52

Coefficients Standard t Stat P-value Lower

Upper Error 95%
95%
Intercept 1.96 0.29 6.75 0.00 1.38 2.53
Exposures to advertising 0.53 0.08 6.66 0.00 0.37
0.69

The p-value is 0.00 which is lower than 0.025 so it falls in the critical region,
therefore alternative hypothesis of relationship between independent variable “Exposure
to advertising “and dependent variable “Unnecessary purchasing” was accepted. The r2 is
0.29, which indicates that about 29% of the variation on the dependent variable is
explained by the independent variable “Exposure to advertising”, which is slightly
stronger.

3.3.4 HYPOTHESIS FOUR

An analysis was carried out to measure the relationship of the independent

variable “Exposures to advertising” and dependent variable “Materialism”. The
hypothesis developed in this context is presented below:

H4O: There is no relationship between independent variable “Exposure to advertising”

and dependent variable “Materialism”.

H4A: There is a relationship between independent variable “Exposure to advertising”

and dependent variable “Materialism”.

Statistical Representation

Statistical representation of the above hypothesis is presented below:

H4O: β1 = 0
H4A: β1 ≠ 0

The above hypothesis was tested through simple regressions and the summarized
result is presented below:
TABLE-6
 Simple Regression

Regression Statistics
Multiple R 0.45
R Square 0.20
Adjusted R Square 0.19
Standard Error 0.64
Observations 108.00

df SS MS F Significance F
Regression 1.00 10.99 10.99 26.79 0.00
Residual 106.00 43.51 0.41
Total 107.00 54.50

Coefficients Standard t Stat P-value Lower

Upper Error 95%
95%

Intercept 1.80 0.33 5.40 0.00 1.14 2.46

Exposures to advertising 0.47 0.09 5.18 0.00 0.29
0.66

The p-value is 0.00 which is lower than 0.025 and falls in critical region,
therefore, alternative hypothesis of relationship between independent variable “Exposure
to advertising” and dependent variable “Materialism” was accepted. The r2 is 0.20, which
indicates that about 20% of the variation on the dependent variable “Materialism” is
explained by the independent variable “Exposure to advertising”, which is slightly
stronger.

4.0 CONCLUSIONS

The focus of the study was to determine the “Impact of TV Advertising on

Children”. Literature survey shows that independent variable was “Exposure to
advertising” and dependent variables were “Unnecessary purchasing”, “Low nutritional
food” and “Materialism”.

The questionnaire administrated for the study was based on 18 items in which 6
items were related to personal data, and the rest of the 11 were related to measuring
“Impact of TV advertising on children”. The sample size of the study was 108. The
questionnaire was administered to the parents of the children.

Literature survey suggests that “Impact of TV Advertising on Children” could

influence determinants such as “Unnecessary Purchasing”, “Low Nutritional Food”,
“Materialism” and “Exposure to advertising”.
 The respondents’ opinions indicate that TV advertising on children has a higher
degree of influence on “Low nutritional food” with a mean of (3.90) and lower degree of
influence on “Materialism” with a mean of (3.50).

The standard deviation of respondents’ opinions on “Low nutritional food” was

the least (0.66), as compared to others dimensions. This indicates that there is less
polarization on the respondents’ opinions on this “Low nutritional food” dimension.

The Standard Deviation of respondents’ opinion on “Materialism” was the highest

(0.71), as compared to other dimensions. This indicates that there is a high polarization
of the respondents’ opinions on this “Materialism” dimension. However, the polarizations
of the respondents’ opinions from one determinant to other do not appear to be high.

The Skew nesses for all the determinants of “Impact of TV advertising on

children” were negative. It was as low as (0.01) for “Low nutritional food” and as high as
(0.84) for “Exposure to advertising”.

Four different hypotheses were developed and tested. The summarized results are
presented below:

a) The hypothesis relating to no significant difference of respondents’ opinions on

different factors (“Unnecessary Purchasing”, Low Nutritional Food, “Materialism”,”
Exposure to advertising” was rejected. At 95% confidence level and (3,428) degree of
freedom the F critical value is less than the F calculated value 10.08.

b) The p-value is 0.00 which is lower than 0.025, the p-value falls in critical region.
Therefore, alternative hypothesis of relationship between independent variable “Exposure
to advertising “and dependent variable “Low nutritional food” was accepted. The r2 is
0.14, which indicates that about 14% of the variation of dependent variable “Low
nutrition food” is explained by the independent variable “Exposure to advertising”, which
is significantly low.

c) The p-value is 0.00 which is lower than 0.025, the p-value falls in critical region
therefore there is relationship between independent variable “Exposure to advertising
“and dependent variable “Unnecessary purchasing” was accepted. The r2 is 0.29, which
indicates that about 29% of the variation on the dependent variable is explained by the
independent variable “Exposure to advertising”, which is slightly stronger.

d) The p-value is 0.00 which is lower than 0.025, the p-value falls in critical region
therefore there is relationship between independent variable “Exposure to advertising
“and dependent variable “Materialism” was accepted. The r2 is 0.20, which indicates that
about 20% of the variation on the dependent variable “Materialism” is explained by the
independent variable “Exposure to advertising”, which is slightly stronger.
 (ANNEXURE-1)
QUESTIONNAIRE

Q1:Gender Q4: Income:

1) Male - 1) Under Rs. 15,000 -
2) Female - 2) Rs. 15,000 – 25,000 -
3) Rs. 25,000 – 35,000 -
Q2 :Age 4) Rs. 35,000 – 45,000 -
1) Under 20 - 5) Rs. 45,000 – 55,000 -
2) 20-30 - 6) Rs. 55,000 + -
3) 30-40 - 7) None -
4) 40-50 -
5) 50+ - Q5: Location:
1) Clifton -
Q3: Occupation 2) D.H.A -
1) Banker - 3) P.E.C.H.S -
2) Doctor - 4) F.B.Area -
3) Accountant - 5) North Nazimabad -
4) Engineer - 6) Other (specify) -
5) Businessman -
6) House wife - Q6: Education:
1) under Matriculation -
2) Matriculation -
3) Intermediate -
4) Graduate -
5) Post Graduate -

Rate the following statements in terms of your answers (5 being highly

agreement and 1 being highly disagreement).

UNNECESSARY PURCHASING

1 Children insist on purchasing the product when they see the ad of it. 5 4 3 2 1
2 Commercials influence the children to purchase the product that they already have.
3 The characters in the commercials influence their buying intention. 5 4 3 2
1

LOW NUTRITIONAL FOOD

4 Children ask for candies and other low nutritional products when they see on
commercials. 5 4 3 2 1
5 Obesity in Children is being increased via Advertisements. 5 4 3 2 1
6 Children like to prefer to have junk food as compared to home cooked food.
5 4 3 2 1
MATERIALISM

7 Children become more obsessive with toys because of their commercials. 5

4 3 2 1
8 Children don’t want to eat food but want to go to McDonald /KFC. 5 4 3 2 1
9 Children don’t believe more in relationship rather than getting gifts from nearest &
dearest. 5 4 3 2 1
10 Children don’t need hug but need an I-pod or Play stations. 5 4 3 2 1

EXPOSURE TO ADVERTISING

11 The demand of children increased when they explored the new ads. 5 4 3 2 1
12 The children are very keen about to know the thing which is broadcast in ads.

ANNEXURE-2
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